Q: I have been looking into a couple different career paths over the last few weeks and have been asking for advice or guidance from professionals in each category. One of my top choices at this point is a wedding planner or a general event planner. I am sure there are a couple professional planners in this forum and I would love to get some guidance from you. I have helped plan and catered a couple events and enjoyed it all very much. I am currently 25 and have a couple connections to people who are in industries related to weddings. Should I look into just trying to start on my own or look for an established planner to work for/with? I am in a small area so I know its not going to be in high demand in my immediate area, is that going to pose a big issue? Thank you in advance for any guidance!
I might suggest you either work for some planners or even just try to get a job in any major hotels that have conference rooms and book events, just to start building any related experience to planning. You have a Hyatt and few higher end places, try to get a job there and work you way up to that. Just one thought about how to approach it. I just took a peek and google Rochester hotels to get a feel for what's there.
Another thing to consider is that helping plan an event is also very different than doing it for a living, working with clients you do not know. (I assume the ones you helped with you knew the people, right?).
Also, if your area is going to be low demand, yes, that will definitely be a big issue. How would you propose to make a living doing it? How ritzy and upscale is your area to begin with, meaning what does the average wedding cost around there?
I might also get to know all the vendors in the area, learn who all the florists are, catering companies, wedding photographers, people that rent out tables and chairs, etc., etc.
Are you currently married? Have you been to any local Bridal expos? Google
rochester, NY, bridal expo
And start going to them, learn all you can about the resources, that will one, not only give you connections which is what you want to do, start to develop networks (even if you work for a hotel or someone else, your personal connections come into pay) and also give you a better sense of demand.
If you love planning, you should get out there and do it. Just be sure to consider how much you would really make if you do it on your own. ie, how many clients paying how much would you need to make ends meet (and don't forget to set aside oh, maybe ballpark 30% for taxes).
Technology has been good to video
Because I've been in this business a long time, (I'm a videographer in the Triangle/Triad in NC) I appreciate the benefits of technology in my field. When I was a kid, my father gave me a used Super 8 Kodak camera. It took cartridges that gave 3 minutes of filming time for about $10 for buying and developing the film(and that was in 1970's dollars). It had a 3x optical zoom and had pretty bad sound. If you wanted to shoot indoors, you needed special Tungsten film and a lot of light. Editing involved cutting the film and taping the ends together with tape!
Today of course we have cameras that record to memory cards in HD. In terms of cost/min, well it might be $0 if you're only using the memory in the camera. Even compared to a few years ago when you were shooting SD to tape, the images are spectacular. Wider zoom ranges, better wireless mics and digital recorders, lower light capability are all improving not to mention the editing capabilities we have now with computers.
Video gives you picture AND sound and recreates the moment.
Remember when VHS camcorders came out? People marveled at the ability to record 2 hours of video even if you couldn't recognize your fiancee in the pasty picture when you zoomed out to a wide shot. We've gone from 240 lines of horizontal resolution to 1920!
I think my point is that today you get so much more from motion picture reproduction in terms of quality and recreating the moment, yet video tends to be the first thing cut from a wedding budget.
I see the value in video as being the best it's ever been yet, the percentage of people who get a wedding video is about the same as it was when VHS camcorders came out.
So I'm curious about why you think professional video isn't used more. Iphones and andriods? Too expensive? People don't appreciate the value? I'm all wet, everybody gets a video?
What do you think?
Today of course we have cameras that record to memory cards in HD. In terms of cost/min, well it might be $0 if you're only using the memory in the camera. Even compared to a few years ago when you were shooting SD to tape, the images are spectacular. Wider zoom ranges, better wireless mics and digital recorders, lower light capability are all improving not to mention the editing capabilities we have now with computers.
Video gives you picture AND sound and recreates the moment.
Remember when VHS camcorders came out? People marveled at the ability to record 2 hours of video even if you couldn't recognize your fiancee in the pasty picture when you zoomed out to a wide shot. We've gone from 240 lines of horizontal resolution to 1920!
I think my point is that today you get so much more from motion picture reproduction in terms of quality and recreating the moment, yet video tends to be the first thing cut from a wedding budget.
I see the value in video as being the best it's ever been yet, the percentage of people who get a wedding video is about the same as it was when VHS camcorders came out.
So I'm curious about why you think professional video isn't used more. Iphones and andriods? Too expensive? People don't appreciate the value? I'm all wet, everybody gets a video?
What do you think?
Wedding planners can be a huge benefit
Yes, I'm a planner, and a bridal store owner. As I said before, the economy is dictating many a bride's budget. If you don't want to hire a planner...don't. I'm sure your wedding will be beautiful. There are alot of crafty people on here, and they can point you in the right direction. If you're organized, and don't stress over it, I'm sure you'll enjoy your big day.
However, there ARE benefits having a planner.
We can get huge discounts from other vendors. We have people we work with on a regular, and they will give discounts that a bride alone wouldn't be able to get. The vendors want us to bring them our brides.
We know how weddings work. You're paying for our experience, and we have lots of it. Probably working in the very venue you're using. So we know the best way to set up the event, who to call if there's a problem, and yes, we can get a beautiful replacement wedding cake on short notice. We know how to get dirt of your wedding gown because the photographer wanted you to lean against the tree. And we always have bottles of water on hand for the dehydrated partiers that are having a bit of problem from the night before.
Some brides can do it all, other's are petrified to do so. The very thought of it scares them. That's where we come in.
If you don't want to be called...we don't. Some brides want to ok every decision, but don't want to do the leg work. Other's just want to show up and have it be beautiful.
It really is disheartening to see others bash the work we do. Weddings are hard work, and to pull them off seamlessly takes alot of effort. Some are easier than others, it all depends on what is most important for the bride and her vision for her wedding.
We charge for our services, and no, we aren't cheap. But it does take a crew to organize and set up most weddings in the time frame allowed. We have employees to pay, and they work hard for our brides.
However, there ARE benefits having a planner.
We can get huge discounts from other vendors. We have people we work with on a regular, and they will give discounts that a bride alone wouldn't be able to get. The vendors want us to bring them our brides.
We know how weddings work. You're paying for our experience, and we have lots of it. Probably working in the very venue you're using. So we know the best way to set up the event, who to call if there's a problem, and yes, we can get a beautiful replacement wedding cake on short notice. We know how to get dirt of your wedding gown because the photographer wanted you to lean against the tree. And we always have bottles of water on hand for the dehydrated partiers that are having a bit of problem from the night before.
Some brides can do it all, other's are petrified to do so. The very thought of it scares them. That's where we come in.
If you don't want to be called...we don't. Some brides want to ok every decision, but don't want to do the leg work. Other's just want to show up and have it be beautiful.
It really is disheartening to see others bash the work we do. Weddings are hard work, and to pull them off seamlessly takes alot of effort. Some are easier than others, it all depends on what is most important for the bride and her vision for her wedding.
We charge for our services, and no, we aren't cheap. But it does take a crew to organize and set up most weddings in the time frame allowed. We have employees to pay, and they work hard for our brides.
Some advice on lighting for event photography
It's been awhile since I synchronized flash with ambient light manually, but I seem to remember that the shutter speed controls the exposure for the ambient light. The key to event photography lighting is balancing the subject lighting with background lighting. If you use a large aperture and slower shutter speed the subject will be well lit and background will have more detail.
Chose a higher ISO, I used 400 to shoot inside churches. Avoid direct flash and use a defuser. For my set up, I used a Nikon D80 with an SB800 flash, I mounted my flash on a stroboframe bracket so the flash is always above the lens, this minimizes flash shadows. You can set the camera to ttl. I always get good results shooting about F4 30th. Without seeing the shots it is hard to advise you but I hope this helps. While I've found flash metering to be bit more reliable and a convenience if your subject is always changing distance from your lights, you need to at least meter ambient and set a manual exposure if you want usable results. Also I would try lengthening my shutter speed a stop to increase the background exposure.
Photo Printer Technology Lags Camera Ability
I recently purchased a new Nikon to replace my aged Nikon D70 that is having problems, mirror hangs up. The image quality from my new Nikon when viewed on my computer monitor is just amazing. What I find very disappointing is print quality from my all in one Kodak printer and all of my friend's printers which I have tried including a wide paper printer with eight inks. I would like recommendations for a printer, preferably affordable or used that will give me the print quality that I am looking for. I have never thought that photo printers have kept up with advancing digital camera technology.
From my own experience and for my own standards, I've found the Epson R2400 (at this point mine is probably 8 years old but still going relatively strong) to be excellent. To be honest, I've found that the all-in-one's aren't the right tool for someone who wants high-end results, and even worse, oftentimes "affordable" and "high-end quality" are somewhat mutually exclusive.
Something else to keep in mind: the monitor is a transmissive light medium, and printers/paper are reflective. There is a quality present in the monitor which simply won't translate to paper no matter what printer you use. Also, there are some sharpness qualities which render different with pixels than with pigment, so you may have to adjust sharpness settings on a paper by paper, and printer by printer, basis.
I am also saving my pennies to purchase the Nikon DF which will take all of the old Nikon lenses as well as the new. Imagine all of the old great Nikon lenses out there at reasonable cost including some I have had for decades.
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